The Most Parentheses Ever

I've spent the last week soaking up the thriving city life of Singapore. Sky scrapers, HDB flats (public housing, but with a billion times the class of US 'projects'), and cranes (jokingly referred to as the national bird), pierce the sky, reminiscent of the fact that Singapore is always changing and growing. Always. Just last night I went to Orchard Road, the New York City of Singapore, to do an observation assignment for class. I could buy S$1 pants and a hooker on one side of the road and buy my dog a D&G ensemble on the other. It was overwhelming to say the least, but there's no denying that the city glow has a beauty to it that is uniquely its own.

Awesome 'street art.'

Compare this to our day trip today to Pulao Ubin, a little island off of Singapore that was used as a granite quarry in the 1960's. Now it is the last 'kampong,' or village, left in Singapore, a glimpse into life before the PAP buckled down. Life is slower there; small ferries transport groups of tourists and locals alike over the brief (and oh-so-pretty) slice of water to "Granite Island." Don't have twelve people around? Then chill, because the captains aren't moving (so neither will you). We were welcomed to the island by ramshackle bike rental places and a few shady food stalls (complete with their aggressive owners), both of which locations are  most likely converted into homes come night fall. And so the search for a bike began. I couldn't handle the pace of the first bike rental shacks so I hustled down a bit further and came across an elderly fellow who seemed nice enough. He helped me pick out a pitiful cruiser that looked as if it had been tumbling down a cliff for the past ten years, finally crashing at the bottom sometime earlier that morning just in time to be sold to lucky me. It was only S$4, and maybe a bit charming in its mangy mutt way. So I hopped on and took off with Jeanna to do some exploring, ungracefully dodging locals and wild dogs along the way. We met up with Matt, our super cool TA, a few hundred meters down the road who was on his forth bike, the first three having exploded (or something like that) within a dozen feet of take off (he payed S$5 for the exploding bikes so I was seriously beginning to worry that Ole' Crapola would turn out to be a bad life decision). We finally made it into the forest though where we heard crazy noises that we decided were very hippo-like (no hippos here though) and saw all types of fruit trees including one bearing the (in)famous durian. 

The average ferry. If you read this Stacey, there was another ferry there I didn't get a picture of that reminded me of you as it looked quite like a floating VW bus!

 

Part of a shrine we ran across. People burn incense here and just across the way there was an incinerator to send up 'clothing,' 'electronics,' and so forth (all made of paper or cardboard) to their ancestors.

About two hours of riding later, we found an oasis in the heart of the island. We finally discovered an entrance and, there being no Rottweilers or electric fences, went in. It was beautiful but strangely deserted with only a few people buying water and a couple of local kids swimming in a pond-ish body of water. We hadn't brought swim suits and kind of shyly waded around until we pretty much got a screw-it mentality and went in anyway. Soon another group of UNC kids found their way there and joined us in flipping, racing, diving, and wrecking general havoc. I think most of us say something to the extent of 'this is the best day ever' practically everyday here, and this was no exception. 

Sex sells?

We finally drug our way back to the bikes and decided to navigate up to the old quarry, a very, very good decision. A million wrong turns later, we found ourselves at the top of a cliff overlooking awesomeness. There's not much more I can say about it. We eventually headed back down to the resort to buy some more water we were treated to a show when two Singaporean boys (Nesh and Andre I later learned) got a hold of two inflated tubes and some head covers for an old-fashioned King of the Hill game. It was a joke really, Nesh completely dominated over scrawny Andre, and I yelled out asking if the they needed some competition. Fifteen seconds later we were agreeing on battle terms (he couldn't take it easy on my just because I was a girl) and commenced to duke it out. It ended in a 1:1:1 and was a blast-and-a-half for everyone involved I think.  I found out they were delivery boys and had agreed to be guinea pigs for the owner to see if the game was too dangerous for tourists (oh, lovely). They were enjoying their last bits of free time before they went into the service for two years, mandatory of all male high school grads. It was a bit sad in a way, and maybe a bit unnecessary as Singapore hasn't really ever had a need for a militant force. Ever. But that's another story.

Doesn't come close, like always.

Nesh (left) and Andre (right) preparing for war.

We decided to head out via a long bridge as indicated by our uber

I've thought a lot about the situation of the islanders since my visit, and I'm not sure whether I should be angry with their situation or simply admire it. It isn't the worst way of life; they have fresh fruit growing in their yard, a swimming hole right down the road, a breath-taking view, and all the sand and sun a beach bum could ever hope for. In fact, I suspect they could attempt to come live with the rest of the 'digits' in Singapore if they wanted (digits is how LKY, the first prime minister and creator of modern-day Singapore, referred to the the people for a while). However, they do not speak English and would inevitably fall into the lower class on the social scale. The lower class' relationship with the government is eerily comparable to something out of 1984 and is sadly a very difficult hole to climb out of. I suppose the lack of options for change in their lives is what is most disturbing and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about the situation, but I pray that they are happy and healthy and cared for.

 Heading back to the mainland.